Posts Tagged ‘History’

I’ve been watching the BBC’s ‘Versailles’ series on iPlayer which has lead me to Google whether it or not some things actually happened or were dramatised versions of events. Changing history. Humanity likes to gloss over the past or adjust it to make it more palatable or suit the agenda of the present (in ‘Versailles’ case – to entertain). This happens most famously in George Orwell‘s 1984 on an industrial scale:

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” – George Orwell, ‘1984’.

Women have been left out of much of history (and quotations). Things are changing as there are more books and articles written by and focusing on women who have changed the world. That’s why first-hand accounts and primary sources are so vital for historians to re-examine the past.

You’ll also find women feature prominently in our print biographies and main collection.

Don’t discount your skills in investigating inaccuracies and overlooked facts and figures – they are not confined to the classroom. It is more important to use your critical thinking skills in everyday life, in reading the news and participating in society. Seeing connections, questioning potential bias, probing the facts and respecting evidence. Women can change history in a good way starting with you and me.

This Monday was International Women’s Day. We celebrate women’s achievements every day at Hillcroft College but this is an annual occasion when we can highlight women who inspire us and draw attention to gender inequalities. Names that have been put forward this week for special mention are: Anne Frank, Mary Wollstonecraft and Hildegard of Bingen. The Open University have created an interactive map showing world-changing women because women are not as visible in history. In the LRC are resources that give voices to women whose lives are remarkable in ways that wouldn’t normally make the history books or be given screen time.

Here are our top 5 resources for finding out more about women’s experiences and strength against opposition and/or oppression:

February is Chinese New Year and this year is the Year of the Monkey. If you’re in London there’s a special celebration with a parade from Charing Cross Road to Shaftesbury Avenue and lions in China Town. Plus there’s entertainment in Shaftesbury Avenue and on Trafalgar Square. Find the timings on the Mayor of London/London Assembly Chinese New Year 2016 page.

Do you know which Chinese year it was when you were born? The Travel China Guide will help you find it.

Check out some of the material we have for you to borrow about China. If English is not your first language then Patrick Catel’s China gives you a good overview of the culture, politics, history, environment and wildlife of the country.

If you’re interested in art then Chinese Art in Detail by Carol Michelson and Jane Portal may be of interest.

Most students in higher education are now watching videos both in the lectures and as additional learning. Often this means going to Google or Youtube but libraries also give students access to film and other media.

To prepare for university-level learning, Hillcroft long course students have subscription access to eresources like BFI InView. This is a website with videos about British history. It includes Panorama TV documentary footage and archived party political broadcasts.

Why search the library’s eresources when Google seems so easy? Let’s have a look at features of streaming BFI Inview videos:

Advantages of BFI inview over YouTube:

Curated lists of videos under themes designed for students like documentaries with a range of perspectives (see different sides to history).

Short introductory essays to topics written by academics who have authority in their fields (impress your tutor with your references).

Rare footage not available on other video-sharing websites (information that you haven’t heard before).

Tells you how long each video is (manage your time effectively).

Less distraction from off-topic videos/no advertisements (manage your time effectively).

How to log in to OpenAthens:

Go though the Hillcroft VLE. Log in. Under the ‘Library and Learning Resources’ course page (enroll if this is your first time) go to ‘LRC eresources’ and there are links to all the resources we are subscribed to under ‘Eresources Using OpenAthens’.

Looking in our archives of documents created in Hillcroft College reveals how much has changed and how much hasn’t. Fascinating primary sources for a social historian.

The Annual Reports provide details such as the students who were enrolled and lived in the college, who paid their fees (often their employers like Debenhams and Robertsons of jam fame) and what they ended up doing after studying here.

The Annual Report from 1920 also has a pamphlet inside it listing the schedule for the ‘Pageant of Women’s Work’. This consisted of a fair number of presentations and/or readings given by the students on the topic of famous and influential women through the ages. It starts with ‘Women in primitive times’ and goes through until ‘The woman professor’, ‘suffragist’ and ‘The woman M.P.’. They also talked about Florence Nightingale – we featured her this year in the LRC, 95 years later.

Take a look also at the footnote “Words for Tableau VI from Olive Schreiner‘s ‘Women & Labour'” – they were referencing too! Now if only we knew the page number…

On Thursday 20 November our Learning Resources Centre Manager attended the 10th anniversary event for the Association of Pall Mall Libraries (APML). APML is a group of librarians originally working in the London private club sectors which also has librarian members from specialist libraries neighbouring the Pall Mall area.

The tenth anniversary was celebrated with members of the association and their guest speaker James Campbell author of The Library: a World History published by Thames and Hudson. James’s talk included slides based on pictures from the book which charts the architectural history of libraries from Roman and medieval times to the present day throughout the world. Will Pryce took digital photographs of the libraries which are used in the book. Campbell explained how libraries were once made up of lecturns holding books or chained libraries until the advent of the standing bookcase. Libraries included Roccoco styled gems from Europe and monastic libraries in South Korea; and a modern day one built to encourage children to read by creating a stepped shelf environment inside. Find out more about the talk on the APML blog.

If you’re into present day library architecture whet your taste buds with the E-Architect’s listing of the latest and greatest from around the world on their Library Buildings – Library Architecture page.

is part of a series published by Evans. They give you key facts about the history, transport, culture, economy, leisure, tourism and environment in the city. Plus an insider’s view on what it’s like to live there. We’ve also got from the series:

We all know there’s many nations taking part in World Cup. Raintree’s Countries Around the World series complements these providing a brief history of the country, information on the regions, animals, infrastructure and culture of the country. Plus they come with a timeline and key facts. We have: